Brilliant Reflective Safety Strips Product Review

***DISCLAIMER:  I was provided the products below in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was exchanged for my review.  All thoughts are strictly my own. 

Chances of being struck and killed as a pedestrian increase 1100% after dark.
​– National Safety Council

Wow!  That is a pretty horrific statistic isn't it?  As someone who takes to the pavement in the evenings, I am always trying to find ways to make myself be seen better on the run.  There are a number of different things that we as runners, cyclists, or even casual walkers can do to help ourselves from becoming one of these statistics.

When I was given the chance to check out Brilliant Reflective Safety Strips, I jumped at the opportunity.  I have so many pieces of clothing and gear that I love to run in, but due to their color, they aren't the most safe pieces to wear in the evening or early morning hours.  Here is my chance to make those pieces a little safer by adding high brightness reflective strips to them.  So what makes Brilliant Reflective different?

Brilliant Reflective is retroreflective material. This means when the light shines at the reflective strip, the light will reflect off and go directly back to the source. 

What you may not know is that there are four types of reflective material.
1. Cosmetic – No Visibility at 10 - 50 feet (most casual apparel)
2. Low Brightness – Low Visibility at 100 feet (typical running/cycling gear)
3. Medium Brightness – Moderate Visibility at 100 – 300 feet (running/cycling vest)
4. High Brightness – Significant Visibility at 300+ meters (Brilliant Reflective Strips)

(SOURCE: www.brilliantreflective.com/pages/learn-about-reflective)

Brilliant Reflective comes in two types of strips: iron-on and stick-on.  The Brilliant Reflective iron-on strips are geared more towards making your active apparel more reflective - perfect for jackets, shirts, and even shorts/pants.  Brilliant Reflective stick-on strips are perfect for gear such as water bottles, dog leashes, strollers, helmets, etc (basically anything that has a hard surface).

Brilliant Reflective Iron-On Strips

The first thing that I want to "reflect" when I received my Brilliant Reflective Strips was my clothing!  There are so many times that I always hope that cars will be able to spot me when I am out in the early mornings or at night.  Even using lights, there isn't such thing as being 'too safe' so I wanted my running gear to help keep me seen as well.

I dove into my running shirt drawer to find pieces to test the Brilliant Reflective iron-on strips on. They recommend creating the outline of a human when applying the strips to clothing since the reflective strips will resemble a human (vs. an unknown object) and the driver approaching you will be more likely to react faster. Key points to put the strips onto are the shoulders, hands, waist, knees, and feet.

I was VERY impressed with how easy the Brilliant Reflective iron-on strips were to apply.  Even more importantly, the reflectiveness of them was AWESOME!  I took some demo pictures in a dark room with a flash to give you an idea of the "before" and after of what a car, runner, or cyclist would see while you are out.  Don't worry about them being stiff and uncomfortable either.  The Brilliant Reflective iron-on strips soft and moveable, so you won't even know they are on you.

The iron-on strips are permanent and it is recommended that you was the garments with their original care instructions (cold water is best though) and hang dry or machine dry on low to medium for best results.

Brilliant Reflective Stick-On Strips

When using my stick the Brilliant Reflective Stick-On Strips, I decided to try them out on my shoes and a water bottle.  Easy peasy, just peel the strips off the paper and apply to the surface you are working with.  For my shoes, I applied the skinny strips cut in half to the back of the shoes to make me more visible to cars, other cyclists, and pedestrians alike.  

Since I had a few extra strips to use, I decided to add some reflectivity to my water bottle just because I tend to carry my bottle with me when walking through my neighborhood at night, so it will just add a bit more visibility to me.

The Brilliant Reflective Stick-On Strips were crazy easy to apply - basically just like putting a sticker on.  I was definitely pleased by the results of the "dark room" test that I did with them and feel strongly that they will help others see me better at night or early morning.

At under $10 a pack, the Brilliant Reflective stripes are a great investment to add to any of your outdoor apparel or gear.  Even if you don't personally run or bike miles outside after dark, think about the other applications that they can be used for: walking the dog, your child's backpack, walking through dark parking lots at stores (grocery bags), and more.  With multiple strips in each pack (12 strips in the iron-on and 8 strips in the stick-on), you can add reflectiveness to multiple pieces for under $10.  Isn't it worth it to make sure that you and your loved ones are seen?  Don't become a statistic, PLEASE make sure that you do everything possible to make yourself visible!

To see the entire Brilliant Reflective product collection and learn more about their reflective technology, head to their website www.brilliantreflective.com.  You can also follow
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